Thursday, February 19, 2009

Cat with Diabetes

Yep, just heard from the vet last night that Josie the cat has diabetes. Because of this she will have to go on insulin and get shots 2 times a day probably for the rest of her life. Gee, do I really need this added responsibility when I already feel like most of the time I am barely handling what I need to? I already told hubby that I did not need anything else to take care of when he had the bright idea of getting a turtle for the girls right before he left for 7 months.

It all started a couple of months ago. I have one of those new type of cat boxes that have the pee pads in a drawer underneath and the larger clay litter. I used to change the pad about every 4 or 5 days but the last few months I change it every 2 days and it is FULL. This was my first clue. Also, Josie started just hanging out and taking naps in front of the water dish. I has also been a bad flea season and although she is an indoor cat the dog must have been bringing in fleas and passing them to her. So I took her into the vet to get some good flea meds and I knew something else was up too. I had a feeling it was probably either diabetes or some type of kidney problem. She is about 13 years old, not exactly a spring chicken. I have to say that I had no inkling what diabetes in a cat would mean. I certainly did not expect to have to put her on insulin just like a human and give shots 2 times a day.

The people at the vets office have been extremely helpful though. After I picked up the insulin from Walgreens they told me to come on by the office with Josie and they would show me how to give the shots. Fun! Luckily Josie is the best cat ever and so mellow she didn't even seem to notice the practice shot of Saline they had me give her. Then they tell me that there are a few signs of problems to look for such as being lethargic (how do they think she got so fat in the first place, she is lethargic daily) or having a seizure (that sounds fun, not). But they tell me if I notice her being too lethargic to just rub some Karo syrup on her gums. Rubbing it on the gums gets it to the blood stream fast, just like they show coke addicts do in the movies. Wow, this has been such a learning experience. We'll just have to see how it all turns out.

1 comment:

Shannon (muzbeecrazy.com) said...

My co-worker just found out the same thing about her cat last week. It does seem like a lot of work. But they become such a part of the family it's hard not to try to help them. Our cat is a fatty and I fear we are going down the Diabetes road. Guess I'll cross that bridge when it's time.
Also, thanks so much for the comment you left on my coffee post yesterday. You made me laugh and feel better about the whole situation! I really appreciated it!